Burger Zone
Burger Zone is a chain of hamburger fast food restaurants headquartered in Randall City, Washington. The company began in 1947 as a small hamburger stand operated by Albert A. Miller; later that year he spent his life savings to purchase a small piece of commercial property where he opened the first proper Burger Zone on December 1. Abought seven month before Miller's death in 1954, Burger Zone was sold to Robert Westcott who oversaw the growth of the small chain. Burger Zone primarily sells hamburgers, cheeseburgers, french fries, tacos, pizza, and soft drinks. History The business began in 1947 with a small burger stand opened by Albert A. Miller at 4962 Old Cornet Bay Road in the Historic Downtown district of Randall City, Washington. The restaurant soon expanded to open locations across the state of Washington and by 1955 had 14 locations in Washington and two in Oregon. The corporation began expanding outside of the Pacific Northwest in 1967 when a location opened in Fresno, California. The company then began an aggressive expansion process that lasted until 1992. Burger Zone first filed for a U.S. trademark on the name "Burger Zone" on October 3, 1956. Four years later, on March 19, 1960, the company filed a logo trademark on the words "BURGER ZONE" surrounded by a neon circle. The present form of the logo with a green neon circle and the inclusion of burger and fried did not appear until August 14, 1984. Headquarters The Burger Zone headquarters complex is located in Randall City, Washington. It sits on the site of the original Burger Zone restaurant which opened on December 1, 1947 at 520 West Troxell Road and is still open to the public. The headquarters complex consists of two small-rise skyscrapers on either side of the original restaurant connected by a skybridge. Locations Burger Zone currently operates 213 locations with 187 (five branded BZ Next) of them in the United States while Canada has 26. BZ Next Burger Zone announced in May 2016 that they would be unveiling a new concept restaurant in Randall City called BZ Next which would use more modern architecture similar to a Starbucks and would also feature a radically redesigned menu with tacos and pizza completely removed to focus only on burgers. There will be six different kinds of meat (including two vegetarian options) all of which can be customized with any combination of 13 new toppings. Jeffrey Kilman, CEO of Burger Zone, has described the new menu as a "Subway restaurant except for burgers." BZ Next is expected to open in July 2016. The first BZ Next was expected to open in the University District but was delayed until April 2018, nearly two years after it was expected to open. This version of the restaurant varied from the originally announced plans: recycled shipping containers comprise the kitchen and staff areas while the dining area is open air. The menu consists of five proteins (ground beef, ground turkey, bison, black bean* and garden*) which are cooked fresh in front of the customer who can then pick from six different cheeses (cheddar, swiss, pepperjack, provologne, white American and blue cheese crumbles) and 13 additional toppings. Unlike standard Burger Zone restaurants which serve Pepsi products, BZ Next only offers Jones Soda, a Seattle-based soda company. Each location stocks ice cold bottles of Cream Soda, Root Beer, Orange & Cream, Berry Lemonade, Cola and Lemon Lime pure cane sugar soda as well as offering glass recycling bins on site. As of May 25, 2019, there are five BZ Next restaurants in the Western United States. Two are located in Randall City, WA with one each in Lakewood, OR; San Marino and DuPont, CA. Athletics Burger Zone is involved heavily in sports in Randall City, Washington and in recent years has become a national sponsor. The company owns the naming rights to the Burger Zone Arena in Randall City, is the jersey sponsor for the Randall City SeaDogs FC of Major League Soccer, and sponsors the Burger Zone 250, a NASCAR Safeway Series race at the Dodge Raceway Stadium in Randall City. Category:Companies based in Randall City